Description

You desire substantially less government control of personal
activity and somewhat less government control over economic activity
than is presently the case in the U.S.
This makes you a moderate libertarian with liberal tendencies.

Campaign 2016

This is your year! The Libertarian Party is fielding a moderate left-libertarian
slate for President. Unlike most LP campaigns, the
Johnson/Weld campaign consists of politicians with
real experience (two former governors), and a focus on which steps toward liberty
make sense in the near term.

Meanwhile, the legacy parties are running unlikeable candidates who inspire
comparisons to Nixon and Hitler. (Fair or not? You decide.)

Thanks to these factors the LP slate is getting traction -- around 10% in the polls.
Thanks to the fine print in the Constitution, they could
actually win(!)

The press coverage is there. They are at 10% in the polls. If left-libertarians
get out there and get their friends, families, and coworkers to give them a good look
soon, they might reach 15% needed to get into the debates.

If you snooze, you lose. This perfect storm situation may not repeat.

Fun Reads for Left-Leaning Libertarians

Imaging more liberty. It's rather fun if you try... To that end I have compiled a list
of fun libertarian utopias for your reading pleasure.
Since you come out on the left side of the libertarian quadrant, you might also enjoy some of
the social liberal utopias as well.

Full disclosure: if you buy from Amazon using the links on this and the utopia pages, I
make a small commission. Capitalism! Woohoo!

Political Parties and Organizations

A common sense pragmatist third political party. What a concept! At least,
that is what the
Modern Whig Party claims to be.
Looking at their web site their views seem to range from centrist to
moderate left-libertarian.

A new party. Whether it gets off the ground
remains to be seen.

The Libertarian Party was created to radically cut government—more than you
want.
Nonetheless, you might want to check them out to see if you want to add some Libertarians
to the mix of D's and R's currently in power, since the D's and R's are making
government bigger than you want.

Not happy with the existing parties? Would you like to see a political party
that was concerned about freedom and equality? Would you like to
shrink big government and big corporations?

I am contemplating starting such a party.
This is not a trivial undertaking!
However in my
manual on how to start a new political party
I seriously address the challenges inherent in third party politics in the
United States. Third parties generally fail, because the system is rigged against
third parties. However, there are a couple of interesting loopholes...

The Democratic Freedom Caucus.
Yes, there is a caucus within the Democratic Party that calls for
smaller government, but like other Democrats, they are greatly concerned with
equality.

Want more liberty soon? You could
move to a small state where other libertarians are congregating:
New Hampshire. The Free
State Project has not achieved its original goal of getting 20,000
libertarians to commit to moving, but many libertarians have moved anyway.

The Good Government Reading List

Regardless of your core political values, this
list of books on law, economics, politics, and
social problems should add useful items to your
mental toolset. These books (and one TV series)
range from easy to
challenging.

Liberty and Other Values

Freedom, equality, morality, nature,...these are all good things. All to often,
political debate rages over which is more important. Synergies get
overlooked. There is a better way,
holistic politics.
By looking at multiple values at the same time, it is possible to come up
with creative solutions for the world's problems,
solutions that make
all the factions more happy.

Think economics is just about predicting interest rates? Think again!
Marginal Revolution is a very
interesting economics blog written by professors at George Mason University.

How do we get back to sound money and a stable economy? How do we replace ridiculous
financial regulations with accountability?
Read Finance and Freedom to find out.
You will also find some fun potshots at Keynesian Economics and the Paradox of Thrift.
To the Krugmobile!

Political Strategy

Essays on World Liberation.
Once upon a time, I was a hardcore activist in the Libertarian Party, going
so far to sit on the National Committee and be on the Strategic Planning Team (SPT).
These essays are an outgrowth of said experiences and my experiments in the field.
Since then, I have
concluded that the Libertarian Party is not the optimical vehicle for liberty;
it is too radical to win many elections. Furthermore, I have mellowed over
time and have become more sensitive to issues other than liberty and the
size of government.
So I am no longer an LP member, but if you are (or become one) some of these
essays may prove useful.